Topic: Swearing (Read 27377 times)

Professor Snuggles · « **on:** 23 Nov 2009, 09:15 »

I do this too much. I've been thinking more and more recently that I want to stop cussin entirely, or at least save it for only the specialist circumstances. I feel like usin' cusses like commas just takes all the oomph out of them, and makes me sound sort of stupid also. It made me feel hardcore when I was like, 14, but at this point it seems like its time to grow up, you know?

I have been trying, but years of speech patterns are really hard to break. I'm tryna figure it out, but if any of y'all have hilarious or helpful suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

McTaggart · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 09:23 »

I've tried to give up swearing a couple of times and yeah, it's pretty hard. I think the main issue I have is that my brain doesn't even bother trying to find adjectives anymore and goes straight to the easiest thing. Maybe if you make your self come up with adjectives for all the times you would normally swear you can train yourself into thinking better even if you don't speak it?

morbid79 · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 09:41 »

As long as you don't use crassness as a substitute for a poor vocabulary, it isn't a big deal.

Dollface · « **Reply #3 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 09:43 »

Joys of swearing.

So shove it in your pimhole!!

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 09:56 »

I think I've gotten off of my swearing kick, I can't seem to cuss like I used to. I notice my girlfriend cussing more then I do.

Drill King · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 10:27 »

I hardly swear at all in real life, mamma taught me it made me sound unedumacaterd.

Kieffer, honestly, the only way to do it is to be so guilty about it that everytime you swear you feel bad, you'll stop soon enough.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 10:29 »

get a job where you have to talk to people without swearing.

i used to swear all the time (and still do, to an extent), but working with the public and having to retain some semblence of professionalism has changed my ways noticably.

snalin · « **Reply #7 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 11:01 »

There's few things that make me angrier than somebody telling me not to cuss. It's... a part of myself, really, and I reserve the stronger things for stronger occasions. I swear a lot more than my peers, surely, but I grew up in the northern part of Norway, and swearing is much more usual there, and I guess I've carried that part along. And I'm not going to skip it because the damn southerners are fucking puritan, that's for sure.

One thing I've laid of is the use of the word "fette" as the one and only adjective in my vocabulary, which is a Northern Norwegian version of "fitte", which would properly translate into cunt. Although "cunting" would probably be better, as in "that's cunting brutal, man!"

Yeah, it's not a good part of the world.

So, I can't help you. If I had to quit swearing, I'd teach myself to use words that's a bit bigger than the basics. Why struggle for conformity when you can go for outclassing everyone? "Preposterous!" instead of "no fuckin' way, bro!" is a good start.

Caleb · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 11:35 »

Learn how to swear in another language.

Drill King · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 11:40 »

Quote from: Caleb on 23 Nov 2009, 11:35

Learn how to swear in another language.

Don't do this please.

Lines · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 11:47 »

Pinch yourself every time you catch yourself doing it. Get a friend to pinch, poke, slap, etc. if they notice. That and stopping to think out exactly what you want to say helps, too.

JD · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 11:49 »

I have the ability to swear in spanish, If I ever had the desire.

But yeah I don't swear too much at all.

snalin · « **Reply #12 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 12:15 »

I've noticed myself using Wheel Of Time swear words when typing English stuff. I guess it's because I'm trying to read through them all before getting to 12, but still, this shouldn't happen.

Heranje · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 12:20 »

I used to swear all the time - it was horrible and made me sound like an idiot. There is nothing as ineloquent as a person whose every other word is a swearword (possibly a person whose every other word is 'like'). I don't think I ever made a conscious effort to quit, really - at some point I just realized "I'm over this" and I stopped. Of course, if someone is perfectly happy swearing, they should do so to their heart's content, but I understand why you would want to stop or cut down. Swearwords do lose their impact if you use them all the time.

Some things that may help:
- tell your friends that you're trying to quit swearing, and ask them to remind you every time you swear. It's hard to be conscious of one's own language at times and being reminded by others can be annoying in the short run (as in, when someone calls you out for the fifth time that sentence) but really helps to make you more aware of how you speak, and to find substitutes in your speech.
- if possible, get those around you to cut down as well - what helped me the most was probably that the people around me stopped swearing. (not because I told them to, just as a sort of common decision) I find I tend to adapt to the language that I hear, and pick up and drop words and ways of speech as they are used by those around me.

That's basically all the advice I can give. I'm trying to break my own habit of constantly using the Norwegian equivalents of "like" and "sort of" as filler words, and as you say it's really hard to break a speech pattern. Luckily, my father has decided to annoy me to death by asking "is it LIKE that, or is it that?" every time I slip up, so it's getting better.

(also, woo for using fantasy swearwords! I desperately want to start including Clockwork Orange words into my normal vocabulary.)

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 12:35 »

I've found that when I don't want to swear (i.e. I'm playing a pretty classy gig), speaking a lot slower and more deliberately helps a lot. Also, avoid topics that you have strong feelings about.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #15 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 12:41 »

I agree with putting yourself in a position where you have to not swear, after a week of that it usually takes me a few days of not caring about it to get back in the habit of swearing, and that is usually after I have gotten really really frustrated with something.

Am I the only person that has gotten to the point of being so desensitized with the more harsh profanity that they find themselves using what would be considered less offensive language when really angry? I suppose that might not necessarily be a bad thing, because that is when I am less likely to be able to control my language, so if I want to I can be completely polite until I'm really angry, at which point I use words like "imbecilic", "bloody" (probably has to do with living in the US, where it isn't offensive), and "damned", which is somehow a lot classier than damn, dammit, or goddamn.

FIXDIX · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 12:51 »

Quote from: snalin on 23 Nov 2009, 12:15

I've noticed myself using Wheel Of Time swear words when typing English stuff. I guess it's because I'm trying to read through them all before getting to 12, but still, this shouldn't happen.

When I was younger and reading the books all the way through I found myself saying "Light" to myself. In my head. Still it was weird realzing I had picked up a fictional curse word. I also kind of did the same when I read the full run of Preacher over a few days. For three weeks whenever I said shit it came out as shite, just how I imagined Cassidy would say it.

I swear a lot. I stopped for a time during high school, but soon after I finished and got a job working with other dudes who swear I soon picked back up on it. From time to time I will get lazy and just throw them in conversations when I can't be bothered stringing together an intellegent sentence. I'm going to swear for the rest of my life, it's something I've come to accept really. I have cut down, and I do take into account who I'm dealing with when using swear words.

Van donk III · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 13:23 »

I've found myself swearing more than ever recently, Having a job in a crew of many many people that involves heavy lifting as the norm doubled with my location (Belfast, a typical docker town) makes for the utmost in profanity from the majority of the crew including myself.

Heard last night just before the end of work by my crew boss : "would any of you c*nts like to stop fruiting around and get some fucking work done?"

classy

KickThatBathProf · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 13:35 »

fruiting around?

I mean if you're gonna go all out and say cunt you might as well put as many swears in the sentence as possible

scarred · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:09 »

I swear a fair amount in casual conversation with friends, but at work or around family I'm able to restrain myself. I nearly slipped up in front of my grandpa but that's because I dropped a bed on my foot.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #20 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:11 »

Quote from: snalin on 23 Nov 2009, 12:15

I've noticed myself using Wheel Of Time swear words when typing English stuff. I guess it's because I'm trying to read through them all before getting to 12, but still, this shouldn't happen.

Frak.

Also, saying Light as a curse seems kind of natural. But this is probably because I just read that book.

phooey · « **Reply #21 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:17 »

Hm, I'm pretty decent at code-switching, so swearing in the company of people who I want to think highly of me isn't really that hard. They probably think I'm an imbecile though* because in lieu of cussin', I just let my vocabulary run wild, and I'll use words like "scoundrels" and "mountebank," and of course from time to time "phooey."

Swearing in other languages is pretty fukkin' stupid. Mild swears with people who understand it can have comedic effect from time to time, but if you're swearing in another language every other word, it will have a coupla effects. The first is it will make you seem like a fan(boy/girl) for whatever nation's language you're repping, or alternately like you're a weeaboo or watch too much Firefly, depending on the language. The second is that you will offend people who are fluent in the language you've chosen. The third is that people unfamiliar with the language will believe you're speaking in tongues/have picked a "power word" like a religious zealot or somesuch. Like I said, fukkin' stupid.

ETA: *I'm actually fine with this. As long as they don't think I'm a vulgar imbecile.

scarred · « **Reply #22 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:22 »

There's really no such thing as watching "too much" Firefly. Can't be done.

phooey · « **Reply #23 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:27 »

Yeah whatever just cut it out with the 他妈的 and we're cool

scarred · « **Reply #24 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:28 »

I was not contesting that point. Haha. Swearing in mandarin unless you're Chinese only works on that show.

Sorry, nerds!

öde · « **Reply #25 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:53 »

Swearing in Mandarin didn't really work on the show either since there aren't any remotely Asian-looking people on it.

I find using adjectives instead of swearwords works pretty well. Pretty fuckin' well indeed.

phooey · « **Reply #26 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 14:58 »

Open letter to those who regularly swear in languages that aren't commonly used otherwise by yourself or those around you:

To whom it may concern,

No, you're not saying it right.
Yeah, you prolly sound like an idiot.

Regards and well wishes,
Phooey

Professor Snuggles · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 15:27 »

Quote from: Heranje on 23 Nov 2009, 12:20

I used to swear all the time - it was horrible and made me sound like an idiot. There is nothing as ineloquent as a person whose every other word is a swearword (possibly a person whose every other word is 'like'). I don't think I ever made a conscious effort to quit, really - at some point I just realized "I'm over this" and I stopped. Of course, if someone is perfectly happy swearing, they should do so to their heart's content, but I understand why you would want to stop or cut down. Swearwords do lose their impact if you use them all the time.

Some things that may help:
- tell your friends that you're trying to quit swearing, and ask them to remind you every time you swear. It's hard to be conscious of one's own language at times and being reminded by others can be annoying in the short run (as in, when someone calls you out for the fifth time that sentence) but really helps to make you more aware of how you speak, and to find substitutes in your speech.
- if possible, get those around you to cut down as well - what helped me the most was probably that the people around me stopped swearing. (not because I told them to, just as a sort of common decision) I find I tend to adapt to the language that I hear, and pick up and drop words and ways of speech as they are used by those around me.

That's basically all the advice I can give. I'm trying to break my own habit of constantly using the Norwegian equivalents of "like" and "sort of" as filler words, and as you say it's really hard to break a speech pattern. Luckily, my father has decided to annoy me to death by asking "is it LIKE that, or is it that?" every time I slip up, so it's getting better.

(also, woo for using fantasy swearwords! I desperately want to start including Clockwork Orange words into my normal vocabulary.)

droogie I am tryna quit cussin, not smoking cigarettes.

Radical AC · « **Reply #28 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 16:14 »

There is a not swearing jar in our household. Every time you say, for example, "darn" instead of "damn" you have to put in some change.

Thomas Edison · « **Reply #29 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 16:28 »

I never understood why people are so horrified by swearing? I can understand being offended if someone calls you fat or ugly, but I've never felt offended when someone says "cunt" or whatever at me.

Heranje · « **Reply #30 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 16:46 »

Quote from: Professor Snuggles on 23 Nov 2009, 15:27

droogie I am tryna quit cussin, not smoking cigarettes.

My appy-polly loggies, droogie. I tend to go on too long about most things.

Eris · « **Reply #31 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 17:50 »

Quote from: Thomas Edison on 23 Nov 2009, 16:28

I can understand being offended if someone calls you fat or ugly, but I've never felt offended when someone says "cunt" or whatever at me.

I am the same way. I was called a cunt at school by a guy because I was sitting in a seat he wanted to sit in. I didn't go and cry in a corner, I ignored him. When my friends told me I was a freak because I wasn't swooning over a guy like the were, I got really upset. This was even before I started hanging around people who swore a lot, and I grew up in a family who would only et us say 'shut up' to dogs. I think words take on the impact you want them to, and really, swear words aren't even really the adjectives they started out as any more, they are more abstract, so they are losing their impact that way as well as through oversaturation. Calling me a cunt doesn't make me think I have just been called a vagina, or even the more negative associations to do with it; it's just being called something that society has deemed "bad" so I have been called a bad word and should feel bad. I am not a little kid and that isn't going to work on me.

I can't really help with the stopping of swearing thing, though. Sorry! Maybe try thinking out what you want to say a bit more before speaking so you don't use filler swears?

Alex C · « **Reply #32 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 17:52 »

Quote from: Radical AC on 23 Nov 2009, 16:14

There is a not swearing jar in our household. Every time you say, for example, "darn" instead of "damn" you have to put in some change.

I like this idea. A lot of euphemisms rather annoy me.

Jimmy the Squid · « **Reply #33 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 17:54 »

Man fuck not swearing. Profanity is cunting awesome. Granted I work in a job where I am basically forced to take other people's shit with big fucking grin on my face and a spring in my step so I quite enjoy swearing whenever I fuck damn feel like it. Luckily I'm smart enough to know when not to swear (job interviews, answering questions from the police, talking to my grandma) and when it's ok (pretty much every other time). Does it make me sound uncouth? Yeah probably. Do I care even a little? Not that much! In fact it's almost like a challenge to swear as much as possible while still sounding eloquent. Helldamnfart!

KharBevNor · « **Reply #34 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 17:56 »

I would suggest that you shouldn't announce your latest shallow affectation beforehand, you should just do it.

Like when I took up smoking a pipe, it would have been retarded to inform people a month in advance. It makes it transparenly a pathetic cry for people to pay attention to you, rather than probably a pathetic cry to for people to pay attention to you.

Don't worry, it's not catostrophic. I suggest you drop this one, then, a couple of months down the line, when someone asks you if you want a drink, you casually mention you have given up drinking. People will then pay attention to you in that situation for up to an hour, and you will feel awesome.

öde · « **Reply #35 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 17:58 »

Where was that shop that does pipe tobacco, Holburns?

KharBevNor · « **Reply #36 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 17:59 »

Down Wimbourne road, yeah.

I suggest Three Nuns. My grand-dad smoked that, and it literally ate his brain, so it must have been doing something right.

öde · « **Reply #37 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 18:00 »

Neat.

DonInKansas · « **Reply #38 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 19:08 »

Quote from: snalin on 23 Nov 2009, 12:15

I've noticed myself using Wheel Of Time swear words when typing English stuff. I guess it's because I'm trying to read through them all before getting to 12, but still, this shouldn't happen.

Mother's milk in a cup, I don't know what you're flaming talking about.

Having kids has REALLY curbed my swearing. It's kinda hard to feel good about using lewd language with their little eyes loooking up at you and their brains sucking in everything you do.

phooey · « **Reply #39 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 19:49 »

Quote from: Heranje on 23 Nov 2009, 16:46

Quote from: Professor Snuggles on 23 Nov 2009, 15:27
droogie
droogie.

Ugh, there were these guys I saw at a Halloween party that had impeccable Clockwork Orange costumes (seriously where the fuck do you even get a codpiece), but totally ruined the effect by not understanding even the most tame Burgess slang. They seemed pretty far gone though so maybe I just caught them at a bad time.

Yeah, it still bothers me.

BrittanyMarie · « **Reply #40 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 19:57 »

I'm with Jimmy on this one, only I do swear in front of my grandma. I will also argue with someone if they do try to call me out, it is a word and I will cuss whenever I feel like it. No one's offended by the words themselves, they're offended at the connotations of a person who swears a lot.

Candle · « **Reply #41 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 20:04 »

how to quit swearing:
step 1- stop swearing so much
step 2- success. now you're a classy bastard

Kugai · « **Reply #42 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 20:37 »

I swear when I'm annoyed. Mostly I find I substitute a lot of Sci-Fi 'Swear Words' when I'm only mildly annoyed.

As with all things, it's the context of the thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCtvkxKA6Fc

SirJuggles · « **Reply #43 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 20:51 »

I dunno. I don't swear, just on principle, ever, and haven't for a couple years now. In middle school when we all learned dirty words it was the coolest thing in the world, but sometime in high school I realized that we all sounded like idiots. And I'd rather be the one who stands out for not swearing. So ever since then I've sectioned off a category of words I just don't use. I understand that they're just words that don't have to mean anything. But we give them power by the way we use them. And if I use them every day... well then they don't really have much meaning or shock value. But when I swore a few months ago for the first time in... 3 years, I think? All my friends freaked out, because they knew I was serious. Same with yelling. I yelled at someone once in high school drumline and the entire band just snapped into silence because they didn't know it was possible.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #44 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 20:56 »

You have exactly identified the reason I don't really care about swearing. They're just words. We give them power by saying that we shouldn't use them. Of course, if I'm in a situation where swearing will cause me more trouble than it's worth (I'm pretty sure I outlined that scenario), then I just stop doing it. How do I tell people I'm being serious? I'll let you know if it happens.

calenlass · « **Reply #45 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 21:01 »

Quote from: phooey on 23 Nov 2009, 14:58

Open letter to those who regularly swear in languages that aren't commonly used otherwise by yourself or those around you:

To whom it may concern,

No, you're not saying it right.
Yeah, you prolly sound like an idiot.

Regards and well wishes,
Phooey

Sometimes I just start talking and words come out of my mouth in other languages. It gets kind of hard sometimes because like my mom speaks spanish and english but not german and my grandparents have some bastardised german and gaidhlig, and my best friend speaks french, so not everything I say is mutually intelligible to everyone. I don't do it on purpose, though, and I can usually catch myself once I notice the funny looks, but on the rare occasions I stop thinking about what I say before I say it, I speak whatever word comes to mind first. This includes cursing. So I guess I am sorry that sometimes I think in other languages? Or that my brain supplies them as the best and most suitable word for the circumstances? I dunno.

(The best incident of this code-switching so far is when I threw "gilipollas" and "pinche" and "pato" into the same mostly-english sentence and happened to be talking to a guy from the Canary Islands. He was very confused, even though no german or anything else made it in, and pointed it out.)

So, in other words, fuck off.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #46 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 21:04 »

I was going to comment on the same thing happening, but I just figured that sort of thing falls under the "languages commonly used otherwise by yourself or those around you."

I is Grammar · « **Reply #47 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 21:22 »

I, most of the time, have a mouth like a sailor. I swear on a regular basis. However, like other people have mentioned, when I am truly angry, I will cut out the swear words. When I begin to over-enunciate words and drop all swearing is when people who know me will begin to worry.

But other than inappropriate times (around boyfriend's parents/my grandmother/small children, at jobs) I have every intention of swearing to my heart's delight. I thoroughly enjoy calling people thundercunts. And if they get offended, they can go away.

Jimor · « **Reply #48 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 22:07 »

As a writer, I find the whole subject quite fascinating. How certain words in different cultures take on this taboo aspect, and even then it matters exactly how a concept is stated for it to become vulgar. Does saying 'shit' instead of 'poop' really make it worse? Why is it ok to use substitutes like 'frak' on TV when everybody knows exactly what it's standing in for?

Then there's that whole weird Quebec thing with church terms being used as the ultimate in swearing.

And if we do succeed in desensitizing the world to 'fuck', will something else merely take its place? Do we have to have taboo words for language to function? If there were no swear words, what would we say when we smash our thumb with the hammer?

Years of working retail has led me to generally be careful. It's usually when I go to science fiction conventions for a few days and hang around with other writers that my fucking tongue finally loosens up, but then it takes me a few days to rein all that shit back in again.

JD · « **Reply #49 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 22:24 »

Quote from: Candle on 23 Nov 2009, 20:04

how to quit swearing:
step 1- stop swearing so much
step 2-start wearing a top hat and monocle
step 3-success, you are now a classy bastard

FYP

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Swearing (Read 27377 times)